Tax Increase on Ballot for Walnut, MS

Photo by Kevin Grieve on Unsplash

It’s always intriguing to see how disconnected many of our elected officials can become from the people they pledge to serve. It’s a rare occurrence to find a Republican campaigning on raising taxes and expanding government. Yet, unfortunately, many follow that path once elected. It seems that once they become part of the government machine, their perspective shifts, and the very growth of government they once opposed suddenly seems justifiable.

Local elected officials have a responsibility to manage their communities and provide the services citizens need and want. As Republicans, we expect them accomplish this and uphold the principles and policies that align with our platform and ideology.

The Mississippi Republican Party clearly states its stance on taxes in its platform:

"Mississippi Republicans believe that people, not government, know best how to spend their own money. When people keep more of their hard-earned money, jobs and economic growth will flourish in the free market system.

Mississippi Republicans support the reduction of the tax burden on our citizens. We believe our tax burden is too high, our tax code is too complicated, and our tax system is inefficient. We believe in the reduction of taxes to empower taxpayers, create a more competitive environment for job creation, incentivize work, entrepreneurship, and investment, and prevent the excessive growth of government."

Given this core belief, one would reasonably conclude that no elected official claiming to be a Republican would ever support a tax increase.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case in Walnut, Mississippi. Elected officials here have proposed a tax increase. How many of these politicians ran their campaigns on a platform of raising taxes? My guess is ZERO.

This November, the Mayor and Aldermen of Walnut are asking the citizens to approve a tax increase:

“Shall the Town of Walnut, Mississippi (the “Town”), levy and collect a special sales tax from every person, firm, or corporation operating a hotel or motel in the Town at a rate of 3% of the gross proceeds of room rentals for each such hotel or motel, and from every person, firm, or corporation operating a restaurant in the Town at a rate of 3% of the gross proceeds of the sales of the restaurant derived from retail sales of prepared food and beverages, including beer, alcoholic beverages, and non-alcoholic beverages, whether such prepared food and beverages are sold for consumption on the premises or otherwise, which shall be in addition to all of the taxes and assessments currently imposed, for the purpose of providing funds to promote, construct, finance, operate, equip, lease, and maintain existing and new parks and recreation facilities and equipment in the Town, and for related purposes."

If you believe in the Republican ideology of lower taxes and smaller government, the only vote is a resounding NO!